1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand-written notation boards and, more particularly, to erasure of hand-written notation boards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Whiteboards are a well-known medium that provide a convenient surface upon which notes, drawings, charts or other hand-written notations may be made. Whiteboards are often used in group discussions as whiteboard facilitate sharing of individual thoughts in group discussions. As with traditional chalkboards, whiteboards allow notations to be made in multiple colors. Like chalkboards, the various hand-written notations made on whiteboards are erasable by the manual manipulation of an eraser.
Whiteboards offer several advantages over chalkboards including a clean white surface which provides for greater contrast over the traditional green background of chalkboards. In addition, writing on a whiteboard is easier than writing on a traditional chalkboard. For example, the smooth writing surface of the whiteboard allows easy use of erasable felt-tip markers, whereas the chalkboard surface provides a somewhat scratchy surface with which chalk is used. Whiteboard markers also tend to be easier to grip and less messy than chalk.
Unfortunately, however, both whiteboards and chalkboards are erased by manual user action, which is tedious. Typically, a user would obtain an eraser and then apply the eraser to the surface of the whiteboard or chalkboard in an often non-uniform motion to wipe-off the hand-written notations thereon. Such manual erasure is time consuming and deemed a chore. Following manual erasure, the board is often spotty, meaning that some remnants of the prior hand-written notations remain. Another disadvantage of manual erasing is that the marker or chalk remnants can cause a dust to develop about the eraser, and thus the user's hand can be dirtied by the erasure process.
Although electronic whiteboards are available and gaining favor in the marketplace, they are expensive and have difficulty performing an erasure function. There are at least two different types of electronic whiteboards. One type of electronic whiteboard is where the board is made of plastic or plastic-like material, frequently referred to as a screen, that moves back and forth exposing different surfaces to write on. Another type of electronic whiteboard is where the board has a fixed surface or screen to write on. Electronic whiteboards have the capability to display hand-written notations written on the surface of the whiteboard and to also store digital data representing the handwritten notations. The surface of the electronic whiteboard is also often erased in the same manual manner as non-electronic whiteboards.
Therefore, there is a need for improved approaches to erase boards.